Smoke-consumer



UNITED STATES :PATENT OFFICE.

ROBERT H. MULLEN, OF CINCINNATI, OHIO.

SMOKE-CONSUMER.

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent No. 550,285, dated November 26, 1895. Application led May 27, 1895. Serial No. 550,744. (No model.)

To all whom t may-concern:

Be it known that I, ROBERT H. MULLEN, a citizen of the United States, residing at Cincinnati, in the county of Hamilton and State of Ohio, have invented certain new and useful Improvements in Smoke-Consumers; and I do hereby declare the following to be afull, clear, and exact description of the invention, reference being had to the annexed drawings, which form part of this specification.

This invention relates to those boiler attachments which automatically admit jets of steam into the furnace or fire-box the instant a door of the same is opened; and my improvement comprises a novel combination of devices for letting the steam on and gradually shutting it off, the details of said devices being hereinafter more fully described.

In the annexed drawings, Figure 1 is a front elevation of a boiler provided with my attachments, the central portions of a pair of gravitating flaps being broken away to expose the air-inlets of the furnace-doors. Fig. 2 is an enlarged axial section of a cataract-gear constituting part of said attachment. Fig. 3 is an enlarged horizontal section through one of the furnace-doors and its accessories. Fig. 4 is an enlarged horizontal section through the front plate of a boiler-setting, which section is taken in the plane of a pair of steam-nozzles.

A represents the front plate of a steamboiler setting. B B are the ash-pit doors thereof, and O C the furnace doors, the latter being provided with air-inlets c c', normally closed by gravitating flaps D D, hinged to said doors C C in the manner shown. Projecting fromv the free edges of these aps are lugs d cl, to which are attached the lower ends of wire-ropes or chains e e', which flexible connections are carried up in front of a pair of grboved disks E E and then secured to the latter. These disks are keyed to a horizontal rock-shaft F, journaled in bearings f f', projecting from the front A, one end of said shaft being provided with a bevelwheel G, that gears with a similar wheel H at the top of a short vertical shaft h. Shaft h is j ournaled in suitable bearings and has fastened to it a horizontally-swinging arm I, whose free end carries a roller t', that is at all times in contact with the furnace-door O.

passed over a grooved roller M, and finally secured to the rod N of a heavy piston O, that traverses a cylinder P, having an air-inlet valve p at bottom and a valveless opening p at top, as more clearly seen in Fig. 2. Piston O has a minute air-passage closed by an upwardly-opening valve o. The shaft m of roller M carries, also, a cam or eccentric m', adapted at the proper moment to operate against the free end of a lever R, which latter is pivoted to a suitable support at r. Furthermore, this lever has an adjusting-screw o" tapped in it, which screw bears against the end of the stem s of a valve S, the valve beingkept normally closed, or almost so, by a spring s', which latter may be external, as seen in Fig. l, or it may be fitted within said shell, as indicated with dotted lines in Fig. 2.

. Valve S is applied to a steam-pipe T, having a throttle-valve t and a series of nozzles U in a horizontal branch Tf of said pipe. These nozzles are usually carried horizontally through the front plate A, so as to discharge jets of steam into the furnace and directly under the boiler. If in tting up this boiler attachment it should be found that the draft of the furnace is quite sluggish, the screw r can be so adjusted as to prevent a complete closure of the valve S, in order that a limited quantity of steam may constantly issue from the nozzle U, the same as in an ordinary blower. When the furnace-doors O C are closed, the heavy piston O turns the shafts F h in such a manner as to keep the roller z' in contact with the door C', as more clearly seen in Fig. 3, said piston in this normal position of the attachment being at the bottom of the cylinder P. Again, in this normal position of the attachment the air-inlets c c are closed by the gravitating iiaps D D.

To charge the furnace, the door C should IOO iirst be opened, during which operation the arni I swings around horizontally in the direction of the arrow seen in Fig. 3, thereby turning the shaft 7L in its bearings, and, by means of the bevel-gears H G, imparting inotion to the rock-shaft F. This rocking of said shaft coils the chains e e K L around their respective disks E E J, thereby opening the iaps I) D,lo\vering the Weight k, pulling the piston O up to the top of cylinder I), and turning the roller M in the direction ofthe arrow seen in Fig. 2. Consequently the cam m now opens the valve S and allows afull head of steam to flow through pipes T T", nozzles U, and discharge directly into the furnace or iirc-box. This discharge continues while the door C remains open; but as soon as it is closed the heavy piston O again comes into service and gradually restores all the operative parts to their normal positions, the speed with which said piston descends being regulated by the escape oi' air through the valve o. Said valve can be so set as to require from three to six minutes for the piston to eompleteits descent, the time being determined by the size of the furnace and the special quality of the fuel consumed under the boiler. Finally, in sonic cases the devices G ll 7L I 'Il may be duplicated at the opposite side of the boiler, so as to enable the door C to operate the attachment and thus render it unnecessary to pay especial attention to which door is first opened, as must be done when the parts are arranged as shown.

I claim as my inventionl. The combination, in a smoke-consumer, of the furnace door C', provided with an air inlet c', and gravitating flap D/ 5 the chain e', connecting said iiap with a disk E, secured to a rockshaft F, having a bevel-wheel G and disk J; the bevel Wheel I-I attached to a shaft 7i, and gearing With the other Wheel G an arm I proj ecting from this shaft, and carrying a roller z', which bears against said door C; a chain L, attached to said disk J, and connected to a cataract-gear; a cam mi', operated by said chain L; a valve S, opened by said cani; a steam-pipe T to which said valve is applied; and a series of nozzles projecting from said pipe, and discharging into the furnace, tor the purpose described.

2. In a smoke-consumer, o' the class speciiied, the steam-pipe T, regulating-valve S, lever R, set-screw v", and cam fm', for the purpose stated.

In testimony whereof I aiiix my signature in presence ot' two witnesses.

ROBERT li. MULLEN. 'iti iesses:

J AMES II. LAYMAN, A. NV. McCormick. 

